Just Another Day in Paradise
by laurah2215
Summary: Pairing: CJ/Danny; Series: The Concannon's:Present, Past and Future; Story #2 A typical day for CJ and Danny


FF:Just Another Day in Paradise

FF:Just Another Day in Paradise  
Author: Laura H  
Rating:Teen/PG  
Disclaimer: Not-for- profit fun. I don't own the characters or the  
song sung by Brad Paisley. This is my relaxation after university  
finals. Don't sue because all you'll inherit is student debt and a  
return ticket from Canada to Tanzania.  
Synopsis: A typical day for the Concannon household. Takes place  
September 2013.

It's okay. It's so nice. Just another day in paradise.  
Well,there's no place that I'd rather be. It's two hearts, one dream.  
I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I ask the Lord, every night, for  
just another day in paradise.

"Mama, mama….MAMA!"

"Honey, get the phone…" CJ groans into the pillow.

Letting out a sigh, Danny lifts his head off his pillow and looks  
around, blinking rapidly. " It's not the phone, it's your son."

"I had bad dream," Patrick Josiah Cregg-Concannon mumbles  
sleepily as he plops himself in between his parents in the four-poster  
bed.

"C'mere, Peanut." CJ gathers the small, tear-stricken boy into  
her arms and gradually regains consciousness.

"It's four a.m,"Danny grumbles under his breath, laying his head  
back against his pillow.

"I know," CJ sighs, following suit.

"It's four a.m. We went to bed three hours ago," Danny continues.

"Yes,"

"Because you had that fundraising concert and P.J wouldn't go to  
sleep until you tucked him in, and Abbey wouldn't fall asleep until  
after the pretty dancing ladies' finished the concert," Danny recalls.

"Yes," CJ replies warily.

"When was the last time we got five or six consecutive hours of  
sleep?" Danny asks in curiosity, turning on his side to face CJ.

CJ runs her hand across P.J's back in small circles until he  
calms down and his breathing becomes regular. She doesn't even have to  
consider the question. " Five years ago…last February," comes her dry  
response of Abbey's birthday.

Danny lets out a light chuckle. " Well, it was probably last  
winter on our annual weekend ski trip to Vermont- the one weekend  
every year that we have without the kids because you don't think any  
adult on the planet besides us is capable of taking care of them."

"Danny,"CJ groans, rolling her eyes. "Patty's Autistic and very  
sensitive. He becomes very distressed when we, especially me, leave  
him for any extended periods of time. Just look at the difficult time  
he's having adjusting to pre-school."

"Yes, I know. I'm Patty's father, have we met?" Danny jokes dryly.

"Danny, what the hell is this about?" CJ whispers under her  
breath, becoming quite irritated.

Danny pauses a moment to formulate a response. "He's four  
years-old. It's time that he learned to sleep in his own bed. Abbey  
gave up at that phase when she was three."

"No thanks to you,"CJ points out. "I believe it took much  
convincing on my part that she needed to loosen her attachment to you."

"Yes, and did I not loosen the apron strings...eventually?" Danny  
asks with a raised brow.

"Not willingly," CJ huffs.

"CJ…"

"What do you want from me?"

Danny reaches over to place his hand on CJ's elbow. "You need to  
loosen the apron strings. We can't treat our children differently. We  
can't treat P.J like he's the special one so he can do whatever he  
wants, just because he's Autistic."

"I know," CJ sighs sadly. " I know that. It's just...it's hard.  
He's my baby and he needs me so much more than Abbey ever did and…it's  
just hard."

Danny grins. Even though at times, like tonight, the relationship  
between his son and his wife can annoy the hell out of him, he's  
always adored the love she exhibits for their children and would never  
want to change it. "I know, sweetheart. I'm just asking that you try  
to give him some independence…so we can have us' back again."

"Okay. I'll try. Next time he has a bad dream or wants to  
cuddle, I'll take him back to his room, snuggle with him til he falls  
asleep, then come back to bed." She smiles warmly.

"Good. Then you can snuggle with me until I fall asleep." Danny  
wags his eyebrows playfully.

CJ swats him lightly on the arm and reaches over to give him a  
quick peck on the lips. " Go back to sleep, Tired-Boy."

"Daddy, Daddy!" Abigail Jean Cregg-Concannon's high-pitched voice  
echoes throughout the master-bedroom as she barrels into the room,  
red-curls flying, and jumps onto the bed. " Wake up!"

"Well, I guess there was no point in setting the alarm last  
night," Danny grumbles as he slowly opens his eyes. "Sshsh, okay,  
Princess, keep it down. Don't wake up..."

"I'm already awake," CJ interjects.

"…Mommy," Danny finishes with a resigned sigh.

"You have to get up." Abbey tugs on Danny's hand, her wide-toothy  
grin once again reminding him of his wife's smile that he fell in love  
with so many years ago. " We gotta get egg cartons, straws, string,  
cotton puffies and…and…old scrap cloth-y stuff." Abbey babbles as she  
drags Danny out of bed in just his boxers and leads him across the room.

"Whoa, sweets, slow down. Why do we need that stuff?" Danny gives  
his head a shake.

"It's crafts day today at school!" Abbey announces excitedly.

Danny mentally counts to ten and forces a smile. "Abigail, honey,  
why didn't you tell us that yesterday?"

"I forgot," Abbey shrugs innocently.

"Okay, okay. We're gonna go look in the garage and see what we  
can find, okay?" Danny turns around to face the bed. "We'll be back in  
a few minutes. You wanna start breakfast?"

CJ waves him off with a hand wave.

" I can do it!" Abbey grabs an egg out of the carton on the table and  
smashes it over the rim of a bowl. The egg shatters and yoke runs down  
the side of the bowl, while little specs of shell gather in the bowl.  
Immediately, Abbey's eyes widen and then soften into an apologetic  
look directed at her mother. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I was trying to be  
your helper."

CJ puts the butter knife down and abandons the toast. She takes a  
deep breath."It's, it's okay. Next time, ask before you do anything in  
the kitchen. Remember how we talked about how important it is to ask  
because there are lots of very hot and sharp things in the kitchen?"

Abbey nods mutely.

"Here. Why don't you put a little butter on the toast and I'll…"  
CJ makes a disgusted face as she lifts the sticky bowl off of the  
table. "…finish the eggs."

Abbey's face brightens as she slathers butter onto the toast. CJ  
is about to tell her not to put so much, when she realizes it's not  
worth it right now. She commences making the scrambled eggs. She  
glances at Patty, who is twirling his Cheerios around his bowl of milk.

"Honey, you need to eat your Cheerios." CJ rests her hands on her  
hips as she waits for the eggs to cook in the pan.

Patty shakes his head defiantly. "Not hungry."

"Patty, you need to eat now so you don't get hungry at school,"  
CJ attempts to reason.

"No school." Patty juts his bottom lip out stubbornly.

CJ can't stifle an eye-roll. "Honey, you have to go to school. We  
talked about this…"

"CJ, we're almost out of toothpaste!" Comes Danny's bellowing  
voice from upstairs.

"Then put it on a list. I'll try to go to the supermarket at  
lunch. Hurry up, breakfast is almost ready."

Usually Danny is home on Fridays. He handles the weekly errands  
like shopping, banking, cooking and driving the kids to school. Today,  
however, Danny is hosting a guest lecturer at U.C.L.A, where he  
teaches classes on Journalism and English Literature. Since Patty  
started school three weeks ago, both CJ and Danny had increased their  
working days to five per week.

Danny rushes down the stairs in a good suite, freshly showered  
and his beard freshly trimmed. "I only have ten minutes. I need to  
beat traffic so I'm not late."

CJ raises her brows as she sets three plates of eggs and toast on  
the table." No, you have to clean up and drive the kids to school  
while I shower and get ready for work. "

"You don't have to be in til ten." Danny shovels forkfuls of egg  
into his mouth.

"Mommy, Daddy's eating with his mouth open," Abbey cheekily  
points out with a huge grin.

"Hey, we're supposed to be a team!" Danny feigns mock hurt to  
illicit a giggle from his daughter.

"Danny, slow down and chew your food properly. And I have to be  
in by nine this morning. Frank,Donna and I have a meeting with of the  
sponsors." CJ takes Patty's bowl of soggy Cheerios from him and dumps  
them in the compost.

"You never told me that. I don't have time to take the kids this  
morning." Danny stands up and clears his dishes.

"I told you that last night when I called you from the concert."  
CJ lets out a frustrated sigh.

"No you didn't. You said…"

"Mommy, I wanna colour." Patty announces from his booster seat.

"No, Patty. You have to go upstairs and put your clothes on,"CJ  
counters curtly.

Patty immediately bursts into tears and causes both his parents  
to sigh.

"I'm sorry, baby…"

"Okay, leave the mess in the kitchen. I'll drop the kids off next  
door at Ted and Marci's. They have to take Alexia and Mitchell to  
school anyway, they can drop off Abbey and P.J.Or we can see if Josh  
or Donna can take them, if they haven't already left." Danny claps his  
hands, satisfied with the solution.

"No, Danny, that's not good enough. Abbey, take your brother  
upstairs and help him put his uniform on. Don't forget to brush your  
teeth,"CJ instructs before turning back to Danny. " I can't leave the  
kitchen with food everywhere. And we already had to ask Marci to pick  
up the kids last week. I don't want the neighbours to be responsible  
for getting our children to and from school."

"Then what do you propose we do?" Danny raises his voice in  
exasperation as the kids reluctantly head upstairs.

"Ergg…I wish you'd just listen to me when I tell you."

"CJ…"

"Mommy. Patty won't get dressed!" Abbey calls down the stairs.

"You're late." Isabella, CJ's assistant, hands her a file folder  
as CJ breezes into her spacious office over-looking a gorgeous view of  
the city.

"I know." CJ huffs. " Did you tell Frank and Donna I wouldn't  
make it on time?"

"No, I mean you're a half hour late." Isabella continues in  
obvious surprise.

"Isabella, this is not the time. What room do I need to be in?:  
CJ abandons her purse and briefcase and just picks up the file folder  
of information she'll need for the meeting.

"Conference room B.Is everything okay?" The tall blond woman asks  
in curiosity.

"When you have two children under five and a full- time career,  
you'll be able to answer that question correctly." CJ dashes out of  
the office even quicker than she had rushed in.

"So, what do you think?" Donna tosses her long blonde hair over  
her shoulder and follows CJ out of the room.

"Hmmm?" CJ turns to face her Vice-President of Fundraising and  
Public Awareness. Donna had decided to join the Hollis Foundation  
after she gave birth to her and Josh's daughter and decided that she  
and her husband needed to get away from the White House and spend more  
time with their children.

Donna shakes her head and gives CJ an inquisitive look. " What's  
the matter with you today?"

The two ladies walk toward one of the sets of elevators. "I…I  
didn't sleep well. I got home late after the concert and had to put  
Patty to bed because he wouldn't go to sleep for Danny. Then Patty  
woke us up with a bad dream and slept in the middle. Then Abbey needed  
Danny to find her all these art supplies for school today. Then Abbey  
tried to help with breakfast, which just delayed us further. Oh, and  
Patty wouldn't get dressed and he cried for half an hour about having  
to go to school. On top of all that, Danny forgot I had to go in early  
today, so he didn't leave himself enough time to take the kids to  
school. Although, if you ask him he'd say I forgot to remind him I  
had to come in early." CJ lets out a sigh as they board the elevator.

"So. I got stuck driving the kids because the school is closer to  
the office than the college, so…now I've just given ten highly  
influential Apple executives the impression that the Hollis Foundation  
isn't professional enough to have their staff show up on time to  
meetings."CJ finally pauses for a breath and leans against the wall.

"CJ, you two seriously need to consider hiring a nanny. It's done  
wonders for Josh and I." Her tone isn't condescending, just helpful.

CJ rolls her eyes. "You and Josh have three, it's a little  
different. Besides, I don't think Patty would take well to yet another  
new person in his life right now, and it really isn't the parenting  
strategy Danny and I want to use." They had discussed it when Patty  
started school and CJ and Danny both went from working Tuesday,  
Wednesday and Thursday to Monday through Friday. They decided they  
wouldn't use a nanny unless it was absolutely necessary, but rather  
just rely on their friendly neighbours from time to time for sporadic  
baby-sitting necessitations.

"Then you've got to do something. You've been completely stressed  
since you started working Monday to Friday," Donna offers.

The women head toward their adjoining office. "Donna, how do I  
make things right between Danny and I again?"

"Cam, can I see you for a minute?" Danny motions with his finger  
for one of his students to join him at the front of the lecture hall.

"What's up Dr. C?" Cam, a tall black basketball player that had  
been in Danny's intro class last year, flashes an easy-going grin as  
he slings his backpack over his shoulder.

Danny pulls a wad of paper out of his briefcase and hands it to  
the young man." Cam, this isn't college-level material. You've just  
put these random thoughts on loose-leaf paper, attached them with a  
paperclip and handed them to me. Now, I'd like you to either write  
these out neatly or type them up and resubmit them to me on Monday.

Cam raises a dark brown. "You kiddin', dude?"

Danny rolls his eyes. He wants his students to be informal with  
him, but there's something to be said for some degree of  
professionalism. "No. Please resubmit them and I'll mark them without  
penalty."

"Dr, C, yo, this is just a rough draft. It's supposed to be a  
little, ya know, rough'. " Cam shrugs.

"Well, not in college, Cam. Come on, you're not in first year  
anymore."

Cam shakes his head in disbelief. "Yo, man, you need to ease up a  
bit. Man, when was the last time you got laid?"

"Cam…" Danny stutters between gritted teeth

"Oh, all right, that was too far. I'm sorry, Dr. C. I'll type  
these up and get em to you on Monday. Thanks for not takin' any marks  
off." Cam takes off like lightning.

Shaking his head, Danny packs his briefcase and starts to head  
back to his office. Even though Cam's remarks had been way out of  
line, it really got him thinking. When was the last time he "got laid"?

"Hey," Josh greets cheerfully as Danny opens the front door for him.

It's about three pm and Danny and Josh have arrived home from  
work and Danny walked next door to return a ladder he had borrowed  
from Danny a few days ago.

"Hey. You're home early," Danny remarks. " Just leave the ladder  
there and I'll put it in the garage later."

"Yeah, I'm cooking Donna a special dinner to celebrate all her  
success at the fundraising concert last night." Josh grins proudly.

"Wow, a regular Mr. Mom."" Danny chuckles softly. "So, where  
are the rugrats?"

"Noah's at piano practice and Ella and Davy are setting up  
Candyland' for when I return. I promised them a game before I started  
dinner. My mom's picking them up around six and keeping them for the  
night at her condo." When Josh and Donna had moved to Santa Monica,  
Josh's mother(who had been living with them at the time) had tagged along.

Danny glances behind him quickly and assesses that the kids are  
in the back yard tossing around a baseball, as he had left them."  
Listen, Josh, can I ask you something kinda personal?"

"What should stop you after all these years?" Josh smiles and  
leans against the doorjamb.

"I was just wondering…"Danny runs a hand across his face. " when  
was the last time you and Donna….you know…"

"…read a good book together?" Josh raises a brow in question.  
That particular phrase is the one the couples in the neighbourhood use  
when they don't want to mention sex around the children.

Danny rolls his eyes in embarrassment."Yeah,somethin' like that."

"I dunno, I guess a week or two. Why, have you not…have you and  
CJ not? How long?" Josh lowers his voice and leans in.

"Uh, two months…"

Josh's brows raise.

"And…six weeks," Danny finishes with a flush.

"Wow, that's…" Josh's cheeks puff out as he sports a pained  
expression.

"An epoch?" Danny mutters irritably.

"I'd say more like...a millennium." Josh offers a sympathetic  
grimace. "So, why aren't you?"

"I dunno, really. I guess we're always just. tired, or  
distracted, or accompanied by one of the kids." Danny's shoulders sag.

"You should take her out. Take some time for yourselves. Just get  
one of the neighbours to watch the kids for a few hours," Josh  
suggests with ease.

Danny rolls his eyes. " CJ doesn't like to rely on others, and  
she doesn't believe Patty will behave well for anyone else."

"I don't know what to tell you, then. You just need to take time  
to be a couple again. Listen, I really gotta get back to the kids.  
I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Good luck, buddy."

"So, what do ya say?"

CJ twirls the phone cord in her fingers as she considers Danny's  
plans. "I'm not sure, Danny. What exactly did Marci say?"It's four pm  
and she's no where ready to leave the office yet. Normally Fridays are  
light for the staff at the foundation, but today is an exception.

"She said they'd love to take the kids tonight. We can pack up a  
backpack and leave it there in case we decide to let them stay the  
night," Danny replies. Heeding Josh's advice, he had called one of  
their favourite restaurants in L.A. and made reservations for the night.

"I'm not sure, Danny. Patty's been pretty moody lately and I  
don't think a night away from home will do anything but stress him  
even more. I…"

"Okay, a compromise. We'll pick the kids up when we get home  
tonight. Hopefully they'll just fall asleep at Ted and Marci's and we  
can just carry them to bed. But if not, at least they can sleep in  
their own beds when we get home." Danny tries desperately to convince  
his wife that they can take a night out on the town tonight.

"Ahhhh…okay. Fine. " CJ exhales. "All right, I suppose we deserve  
it after the month we've had." CJ concedes.

"That's my girl! Okay, so you'll meet me at the restaurant at eight?"

CJ's voice on the line softens. "Sounds good. And, Danny. thank  
you for this. It'll be nice to have a couple hours together away from  
the kids. We have a lot of talking to do."

Danny doesn't mention that he thinks they have other things to do  
in their time alone, as well.

"What do you mean? They can't meet us in the morning?" CJ  
practically shouts as Isabella relays some bad news to CJ. It's seven  
pm on a Friday and CJ's been courting Apple executives to forge a  
partnership that both Macintosh and the Hollis Foundation are eager to  
start. But now Isabella tells her that the executives want one more  
meeting with her and Frank Hollis before they head home in the morning.

"They have a seven am flight." Isabella's tone is hesitant.

"Fuck! This is just…this just sucks. I'm supposed to meet Danny  
in an hour." CJ slumps into her high-back chair.

"I guess you better get them to sign on pretty fast, then."  
Isabella offers with a sympathetic grimace.

Frank glances quickly at CJ and notices that she's fidgeting with  
her watch again. He writes " Is everything okay?" on a notepad and  
slides it to CJ. She reads the note, replies "Yes" and casually  
pushes it back. "Do you have to be somewhere?" Frank writes, to which  
CJ replies, "Yes. I'm supposed to meet Danny at 8".

Frank's face falls. He knows how little time CJ and her husband  
get together. "Just make an excuse and go," Frank writes back. After  
CJ reads it, she looks into his eyes for confirmation.

"I'll handle it." Frank mouths.

"Ms. Cregg, is this something you and your Board of Directors  
could agree to?"A short stubby man turns to CJ across the long oak table.

"She's really sorry, Danny."

Danny blinks hard and looks for the next exit on the freeway. He  
might as well head back home. Isabella just relayed to him, at 7:45,  
that CJ couldn't make it out of the meeting and wouldn't be able to  
make their reservations. "Yeah, Isabella. I know. Tell her I'll see  
her at home later." Danny flips his phone shut and gives his head a  
shake, disappointment plaguing every other thought.

CJ drags herself up the front porch, her arms sagging under the  
weight of her briefcase and purse. It's 9:30. She hasn't had a bite to  
eat since 12:30 and she's mentally and physically exhausted. She opens  
the door to a darkened foyer. "Danny?" she calls, walking to the left  
into the sitting room and dining room, which are dimly lit with  
flickering candles. In delighted surprise, she calls Danny's name  
again.

Danny emerges from the shadows behind the large oak table, a  
confident smile lining his face.

"Is that…" CJ giggles, letting her briefcase and purse fall to  
the ground. "is that pizza?" CJ points to the table as she slowly pads  
across the room to meet Danny.

"Dominos. Maybe we couldn't make it out for really good Italian  
tonight, but that doesn't mean our whole night has to be ruined.  
Instead of being upset, I chose to come up with a Plan B." Danny  
reaches out for CJ's hands and turns them around in his. "So, Mrs.  
Concannon, would you care to join me for a little Italian?"

CJ smiles warmly at her adorable husband. " Yes, yes I would. But  
first, we should get the kids and put them to bed."

"Already taken care of," Danny states cockily.

"Really?"

"Honey, you just need to reason with them and they're out like  
angels," Danny teases, removing CJ's suit jacket and pulling out the  
chair for her.

CJ slides in and Danny begins to dish pizza out of the box and  
place it on a paper plate to hand to CJ.

"So, that's why I had to stay all day." CJ sighs, wiping the edge  
of her mouth with a paper napkin.

An hour later, they had discussed their respective days,  
apologized for getting in a fight that morning and promised to rectify  
the situation so that it wouldn't repeat itself in the future.

"I'm sorry you had such a rough day, sweetheart. Why don't I  
clean up here and you can go get ready for bed?" Danny pulls CJ to her  
feet and into a tight embrace. He draws her lips into a kiss. "Maybe  
you'll put on that black nightie?" His brows rise in hope.

CJ chuckles lightly. "We'll see."

A few minutes later, both with teeth brushed and faces washed, CJ  
and Danny lie clad in their pajamas. Danny is in the process of  
trailing feathery kisses down CJ's stomach and massaging her hips. For  
the first time in months, they are both completely relaxed and  
enjoying simply being alone and getting back to the basics of their love.

Suddenly, a soft voice can be heard from the door. "Mommy?"Patty  
pokes his head and an arm carrying his favourite stuffed animal (a  
blue elephant Danny had got at the hospital gift store when he was  
born) into the room.

Danny exhales deeply, resting his head against CJ's warm flesh.  
CJ takes a deep breath and turns to her son. "What is it, Peanut?"

"I had bad dream," Patty pouts, clutching his elephant tightly.

"Kay, sweetie, hold on." CJ pulls Danny's face level with hers."  
Don't move."

CJ gets off the bed and walks across the room. She ruffles the  
boys red curls (so much like Danny's in his youth)and directs him to  
the hallway. " Come, on, sweetheart. Back to bed."

Danny rolls over and pulls the covers up to his neck. It had been  
a long day, and there was no point in waiting for CJ because she could  
be a half an hour trying to soothe the child back to sleep. But ten  
minutes haven't gone by when the bed begins to sag slightly with added  
weight. After a second, Danny feels CJ's lips on his neck and her hand  
traces circular patterns across his chest.

Danny whips around with a grin. "You're back?And alone?"

CJ smiles largely. "I just told him he had to sleep in his bed.  
We cuddled for a few minutes until he fell asleep."

Danny turns onto his back and reaches for CJ's face. "Thank you."

"Now, where were we?" CJ grins slyly before Danny pulls her flush  
against his body.

"I believe we were about to enter paradise," comes Danny's raspy  
reply.

The End


End file.
